D-Sanchez-Cabello
The weather has an uncanny knack for mirroring footballing moods, especially in western England where the land pushes further into the Atlantic. Hailstorms are punctuated by sunny skies, wind is a constant and thunder/lightning are never too far away.
Last week the weather was positive, as was the football. Chelsea’s lapse was encouraging and our victory at Spurs dashed Daniel Levy’s plans for a celebratory DVD. Who am I kidding? Even jokes about Spurs and their celebratory DVDs seem hollow in times like these!
From a footballing perspective it was one of the worst weekends imaginable – which basically makes it a shoddy weekend in the general sense. The only thing saving it was the mighty St Stephens Borough applying to play on the local AstroTurf. A welcome change, as recent games have only just resembled football.
In that sense we are leading the way… in the East Cornwall Premier League. Which granted, is akin to being the ‘ardest bloke in the House of Lords, but it is a start. The faster we get people playing on good pitches; the faster people will be prompted to play good football. Football is fun, but it is a lot more fun when you have 11 people who know what they’re doing on a surface that behaves its self. If you can offer players a decent pitch, detached from the effects of the weather, then you will get people playing football. Not to mention alleviating the more tedious aspects of the amateur game: marking out the pitch, setting up the nets, various ground work… etc.
Who knows? Ultimately you might even create a watchable local club, which people will be more inclined to support financially. My experience of Amateur football is that it is often held afloat by a dutiful few with deep affinities to their club – illogical bonds that are simply un-transferable. Make a club entertaining and you might attract spectators.
The resurgence of Swansea City can be traced to the construction of The Liberty Stadium. As public money is more plentiful in wales, the project was financed by the local council. The stadium was completed in 2005, offering a capacity almost double that of the previous Vetch Field. To begin with attendances fluctuated in relation to form, but significantly they never dropped to pre-05 levels. Swansea employed a succession of talented managers, played in a style that people wanted to watch and that decent players wanted to be a part of. Even Michael Laudrup was intrigued by the project and in his first season ended up with a League Cup Trophy.
In less than a decade, Swansea had moved from the brink of financial ruin to being in a position where they could buy Valencia’s best player. Unfortunately, as is often the case they earned the ‘privilege’ to face unglamourous Eastern European Cities, whilst lacking the depth to cope.
As such, we face them in 15th place, a few places below where they should be.
With Gibbs and The Ox pardoned, our team should look a little like this:
Wojciech
Sagna Mert Koz Gibbs
Flamini Ox
Podolski Cazorla Rosicky
Giroud
We’ll be all right; we tend to return well from our drubbings… depressing as that is.
Anyway, I’m off to bankrupt myself at auction. You know what they say… you’ve got to speculate to speculate…
DSC
We tend to return well from our drubbings? That is true if you consider 0-0 draws at home after our humiliations against City and Liverpool to be good returns.
Macduff,
I ‘duff’ my hat to you. You are a visionary at never seeing anything good about this club. You inspire me.
I’m sure that if you had written the piece it would have been: “bloody hell, we are going to play another 0-0 tonight”. And that will be realistic and quite historical. I mean do we have any history this season other than those drubbings?
You are the best.
Bootoomee, thank you. I call it as it is.
And yes there have been other games apart from after those drubbings,but the author said that we, and I quote, “tend to return well from our drubbings”. Which is not strictly true unless you consider shitting yourself about being beaten and scoreless draws at home doing well.
No of course after Saturdays result a 0-0 against Chelsea is worthless…
A 0-0 in which the ref Mike Dean closed his eyes for a certain penalty for a foul on Walcott and closed his eyes for two red card offences against Ramirez and Willian.
No Kos, out for circa 2 weeks. Which by Arsenal standards probably means the rest of the season. I’m not convinced The Ox should play either. I have a suspicion and it is only a suspicion that he is possibly trying too hard in an attempt to secure a place at the WC2014 and making errors of judgement in the process. Maybe even pushing himself too hard or taking too many risks. I wouldn’t be surprised to see Giroud dropped as well just because I think his head is up his arse these days.
Macduff
If optimism is a problem for you then why don’t you go and play somewhere else?
worrying for me are Arsène‘s words,
“An accident has happened, that doesn’t mean that you’re not a good driver.
It just means that we have played about 40 games this season and it’s not what happened on Saturday that reflects the quality of this team. We have 62 points that we earned hard with quality games and that’s what we want to focus on, to get back to that quality. We go back to basics.
Of course you need to analyse as well the fact that we were down to 10 men [at Chelsea] and the offensive quality of Chelsea on the counter-attack is very good.
You have to put that into perspective, we just came out of two convincing results at Bayern Munich and at Tottenham with a very solid defensive performance so you have to think that [Chelsea] was an accident. How do you deal with the accident? You repair them, you repair the damage and you go for the next one. The response has always been very strong and I’m convinced it will be again on Tuesday.“
There is so much with that which is at odds with reality. How can Chelsea be viewed as an accident? Manchester City 6 Arsenal 3; Liverpool 5 Arsenal 1; Chelsea 6 Arsenal 0. If the same accident happens three times in a season, sorry Arsène that means you are not a good driver; it hints at a reckless one who doesn’t learn from previous mistakes.
And what of the responses previously? Neither of the goalless draws after Eastlands or Anfield was a convincing performance. There was a nervousness in both with an unwillingness to press home any territorial advantage lest punishment be exacted by Chelsea or United. Arsenal need a stronger response, need a convincing performance and luckily for them, they face the sort of team who they have been able to produce those against; one from the lower reaches of the table. If we are to judge the Arsenal team this season, the assessment is that they are no better than the fourth-placed team in the country which is the same as last time around. You can introduce any sort of argument about United floundering but that is irrelevant; Arsenal are fourth on form.
So how is that better than last year when arguably the title race is more open this time around? Arsenal are a team which will beat anybody below them but are a long way short of genuinely challenging for the title. You’ll tell me that we’re challenging now, only defeat on Saturday has knocked us out of contention. Well, there are other dropped points which have that impact but the truth of the matter is that on 30th November Arsenal were seven points clear, we are now seven points behind. It’s a fourteen point swing that represents the fixtures played in between. Yes, they were harder, there were better teams in clusters of matches but realistically it shows we were flattering to deceive. But if Arsène genuinely thinks Saturday an accident and that view is unchallenged internally, we have a fundamental problem in the psyche of the club.
@Mark
I love your optimism. You are a beacon of hope and a pillar of strength when time for support is needed most.
I dread if I ever have to sit next to you in the Emirates.
mark
How would you have met the press after such a result?
“and that view is unchallenged internally” do you think that is likely?
Mark,
Liverpool match, no excuse, but Chelsea and Man City, the officials influenced the larger scoreline. They already rescinded the red against the Ox and/or Gibbs in the Chelsea match. Also, in the City match, we were flagged wrongly for offside on a couple occasions, and denied fouls for the same offenses the opposition were not.
Does that mean we would have won? No. But the scoreline would surely not be as tragic.
@Georgaki-Pyrovolitis, are there rules/ regulations that only allow the optimistic/ deluded to comment?
Yes there was Macduff, it even was in the heading of the site for many many years.
But it got lost after a cyber attack one day.
Maybe Tony could put up a new header: Home for the optimistic and deluded Arsenal supporters
Would that keep some of you away? 🙂
WalterBroeck at 12:29 pm
“No of course after Saturdays result a 0-0 against Chelsea is worthless…”
What’s that about? We are playing Swansea, not Chelsea.
And yet again you blame the ref for a game where we got ONE shot on target at home, when the truth is we failed to score or win at home against another club/ manager that has Arsene in their back pocket. 0 out of 11 against Mourinho is more than disgraceful
can i pull up my fists now?
can i, can i, can i?
errr…. naah…
i don’t deserve to be as low as “duff” and “mark”..
cheers…
and for someone who is true fans of arsenal who is trully supporting arsenal, would’ve learn how to “read between the lines” of Arsene’s words.
that is if you are trully supporting Arsenal…
…over and out…
Walter perhaps Tony could put up a header that discourages the manic depressives or the ‘only happy to spread negativity’ types from this site.
May I humbly suggest Talk Sh*te or maybe Radio 5 eviL or perhaps the Telegraph would be far more suitable for these types.
LOL to “dumb duff”
you are contradicting your own posts… LOL
LOL LOL SERIOUSLY duff? LOL
i really have to post this… can’t help it…
…dumb…
Macduff,
that dreadful 0-0 you or someone else referred to was against Chelsea and the other 0-0 was against United.
But I can understand you would have like us being beaten by a big score again in those matches. You would have loved that if it would have happened.
And for your information we had 7 shots against Chelsea and 17 shots against Manchester United in our home games in those 0-0’s.
I will start with a FACT. This season we have 62 points after 30 games. At the same stage last season we had 53. Seems like significant progress to me…
In terms of tonight, there are rumours that Szcz and Giroud will be “rested” and Koscielny is injured.
Therefore would suggest something like:
Fab; Sagna, Mert, Vermaelen, Gibbs; Flamini, Arteta (Kallstrom?), Rosicky (advanced role); Ox (right), Santi (left), Sanogo (centre).
I also recall hearing a week or two back that Ramsey was “targeting” this game for his (revised) comeback but, even if he is available, it would almost certainly only be on the bench – perhaps coming on for the last 30 in place of Kallstrom, if he plays, or Arteta?
@Mark,
I think you have to take Arsene’s comments in the context in which they were delivered. You couldn’t expect him to bewail the performance as one which decides our season.
Unless we have a real catastrophe between now and May, our season will not have been that bad.
Reaching the KO stage of the CL, the semi-final of the FA Cup and probably qualifying for next term’s CL.
Envied by most of Europe and our own United Kingdom.
We also have an enviable war chest to which Arsene will be given the key this summer. No more talk from him that we need no more signings.
There will be new blood by the start of the new season, rest assured.
he most worrying aspect is the revisionism this game offered towards the victory celebrations at White Hart Lane. What at the time seemed like a moment from the team for the fans over the rivals suddenly took on the shape of this season’s Newcastle away moment. Were we celebrating a top fourth last week then? Is this an autopilot until the SF? How dangerous would that be, to keep yourselves at a level of somnambulism? Ask Man City.
– Of course, whilst one can question certain tactical decisions (high defensive line, a more attack minded midfield instead of engineering an initial foothold etc.), the players would do well to find a mirror large enough for themselves to look in. It was a betrayal to both their profession and their manager. Liverpool earned their victory with an opening 20 minutes very few teams would be able to cope with. Chelsea were not Liverpool and to not even make them work for it was perhaps the most unforgiveable of sins.
– As for that chance, Giroud looks either like a man who knows he has blown his chance or is aware that a deal is already in place to bring someone in come the summer. Even his work rate has deserted him, an admirable characteristic that for many masked the obvious limitations to his game. How much would it have changed had it gone in? Who knows. Would we have beaten Bayern had the penalty been scored? Who knows? Variables offer context in some games. Against Chelsea, the suspicion is that it would have just delayed the inevitable anyways.
– Of course it is the job now of Arsene to get the players motivated and psychologically prepared for Tuesday. Question is, can he get himself motivated to begin with? Had this been game #946 the lifespan would be limited until whenever the next story comes along, never referenced again until we travelled to the Bodge once more. Alas, this was a permanent marker and will forever be associated with both the day, the achievement and the overall career.
– Which finally leads to the question of any potential new contract. There is only so much fatigue a person can accumulate. Very few look more tired than Arsene on the back of a question mark placed heavily upon his team and he looked utterly shattered yesterday. His story with us has always come across as a movie needing and (in my opinion) deserving a satisfactory and validating third act. Should we win the FA Cup, instead of it therefore being the start it may well end up being the abrupt end to the middle section. Frankly, that performance might just be one gut punch too many.
in my honest opinion, mark..
every win at white hart lane deserves a celebration, because well.. I am supporting Arsenal.
sukebe,
The credentials of Arsenal fan who scoffs at any victory against the Tots is questionable at best.
Oh, I forgot that I am on the dark side now….oops. Scratch that first line.
Who cares if we beat Tottenham home and away for the first time in 7 years? Big deal. Losing away to the trio of Man City, Liverpool and Chelsea by big margins trumps that pesky result at the Lane by far. Also we only scored once away to Tottenham while Liverpool scored 5.
I tell you, Arsenal and Arsene are useless.
Poor old Mark you have my sympathy.
We’ll be fine tonight.
As for the rest…
1) AW will strengthen the squad this summer
2) We won’t be losing our top players
3) One more year for our up and coming players to learn to play the game
Can’t say any Gooner I know is happy about the match on Sunday but nobody is giving their red and white stuff away.
Sorry Guys+Gals! Don’t waste your energy with Mark.
He is a Cut-n-paster
His (March 25, 2014 at 12:54 pm) comment taken from here:
http://www.aclfarsenal.co.uk/2014/03/25/swansea-preview-accidents-will-happen-really/
His (March 25, 2014 at 2:08 pm) comment taken from here: http://www.football365.com/mailbox/9228259/Rooney-s-Goal-All-Down-To-Adrian…
o please Arsenal; please win. Goal down already.
Come on please. Please.
COYG
What are we witnessing?
COYG!
@Dan
U r witnessing players playing under huge pressure, over pressure.. from the media, fans, and who ever is breathing on this planet.
One thing, we wont win a trophy if we dont believe we can, and that starts from the fans, and yes people one blogs and social networks affect the players.
Gunners seemed shell shocked in first 45′, showed very little attacking power and conceded on the only Swansea attack!
I hope the team will turn it around in 2nd half…
we need a big 45 minutes!
i think if the team can raise the tempo of their passing just a little bit we can get right back in this.
COYG!
We need more concetration, we get into good positions just to waste it with a bad pass or nowhere shot.
Yassin
I knew that, but I expected a reaction.
up until the goal i think we were seeing a reaction….after that our heads seemed to drop a bit…
Can’t see the game, are we good?
By the situation of the game, can we change into 442 with Lukas P as shadow striker?
I don’t know how we are doing but as I read skysport’s live blog, it seems that we can use his fire power, shooting from out side the box or making more pressure on the defenses, I don’t know, he can do a lot with Giroud’s backward passes
We dominated the game in the first half, but their defense was stout. Ox made some good runs, shame they came to nothing. Now I’m at work, so can’t see the second half, but we have a habit of resolving the matches in the second half. There are still a good 35 minutes to play, COYG!
Florian
Thanks mate, made me hopeful
Arsenal in first gear, passing the ball around, no threat on goal in second half. Those not look good.
1-1. Good work by Gibbs and good finish by Poldi.
YES! Podolski!
FUCK YEAH!!!!!!!!
WOW! Na na na na… Giroud! That’s what I’m talking about! FYI, I’m watching the live text on Eurosport.
2-1! Only 66 seconds after first goal. Poldi & Giroud doing the work this time.
Poldolski – get in there….
resign WENGER.
HA HA HA…
COYG
U BEAUTY…IN ARSENE WE TRUST
What a turn around, if we can keep it now.
Poldi = Golden sub
Mr, Probert, where’s the yellow for Williams going through the back of Giroud?
And, welcome Kim Kallstrom!
2-2. Soft goal on 90 minute.
Why did we attack @ 2-1?
Just needed to hold tight.
Oh darn. Get your shields out, the rats are about to have another go.
The foul before the goal was not on podolski, it was on podolski, u sht probert.
Screw this, where the hell should we buy the damn luck? For God sake!
That was frustrating, to give ur all and not get 3pts.
And when are we going to get a damn penalty, other teams dives all the time and get them.
@Dan,
Here was the reaction we both expected,
and yes, why did we attack? Why couldnt we defend like we used to all season long.
Well, I suppose this was a good return from the Sunday horror show.
Yasmin: everyone makes their own luck…
Yassin
Reaction, yes.
I’m simply destroyed guys!
@Persian
It’s never a ride, always a roller coster!
damn we should have defended this one 5 minutes to the ninety? Really probert was that a free kick?
@Sammy the snake,
Its Yassin, nevermind, just for another time.
Amd by the way, I dont believe in that everyone makes his own luck, cause there wouldnt be luck at all. Look at the finals we had in the last seasons and u can see how luck was never on our side, no matter how good we are. Anyway everybody got a point.
I dont care, we lost 2pts today, and we are going to get them against Man City, am deluded, ok and i like it. COYG….. Gibss man of the match for me
I wish I could cry, but I can’t
This sad pain of being a fan is soooooooo damn deeper than crying
It’s 2:20 am here and I am all alone with sadness and frustration
If there was a cure for this, a surgery or something, damn!
Persian Gunner, stay calm, it’s only a match, there is still time to get the points required to keep us in CL – as optimistic as I am, I must acknowledge the challenge for title is mostly over, but we’re still in a good position, and with the FA cup at a arm’s length we have good chances to feel better come the end of the season. Stay cool, it’s not over yet.
Our shape was all over the place after taking Rosicky off, not blaming Kallstrom.
And when should we get penalties??? Carzola was being restled in the penalty box really! But thank be to GOD manure does not have a crisis and we do!I mean why the hell is anybody against us we are fourth and in the semis of the FA cup but it sounds as if we are going to be relegated.
Persian Gunner,
I feel u man, I was about to destroy the whole house here, my hand is bleeding and I just dont know what to do…. But lets just look to the next match, its only 6pts, we would dream last seasom to be 6pts behind leader, its hard, so hard, but this is how Great people do miracles, when its soooo hard, hold ur chin up, for the fight we made, not only today, but the whole season, and never give up. Lets take City. We are the Arsenal.
Hopefully we’ll get some of our injured players back, try to secure 3rd/4th and (again hopefully) win the FA Cup. We’ll regroup and strengthen over the summer and have another crack at this “title” thingy. Chin Up & let’s keep on going!
At this rate, don’t count too much on FA cup as well. 🙁
Kampala
Podolski could of given a foul in our area,
An unfortunate ending, but the team played a lot better tonight & Kallstrom looked decent.
Probert – pretty well lived up to his reputation.
No doubt the AAA sewer rats will be laughing out of their asses & will attack us shortly – someone pass me a spare light-sabre!
Dan you are damn right but that free kick was really shitty.
Well played Arsenal, you gave 110% but it was not to be, cruel luck to concede an own goal like that. Onward and upward, I fancy us to beat Man City, our fortunes are about to turn. Kim Kallstrom looked assured when he came on, a useful addition to the squad.
I suppose we will have to put up with the rat pack for the next couple of days, oh bliss.
Kampala
Shitty free kick from a shitty ref, what more could one expect?
@Dan you are right@Sammy The Snake you mean we give up the FA as Mike Dean Shit will be in charge or the form is so low?
Mick
Wont be as bad as saturday, I do think we need to be more ruthless.
I don’t think we are really counting on the FA Cup. If we can win it, it would just be something we could smile about and give us a little lift. If we lose it then that’s life and we keep on rolling
@KampalaGun,
Important question u raised: why on hell is everybody against us?
I pray to God I can answer that, this media gets into our players head, that is why we see those bad halves. That is why we lose to big teams with huge results away from home, the media gets into our players heads one way or another by saying we cant win on the big boys, and when our fans are far from the team, we lose our concentration.
Please somebody just explain, why is the most honest coach, most classy, with the most classy players, and one of the best football around, are so hated by the whole English media and other teams fans?
Florian
Thanks mate
I really hate to see Arsene suffering, it is more painful than losing some points to me, I was happy to see the pressure was going off our shoulder by this 3 points, but that last minute OG! I was just shocked, couldn’t believe my eyes, how that happened!
We have a lot of experienced players, so use your minds and hold the ball some where in their field, kill sometimes, get a corner or something
I don’t know, I don’t know
@Dan yeah ,looks like they want to bring back manure from the dead but i think its kinda of too late.
@Kampala
We need our players back, one thing about us is our injuries hit us hard.
‘resign WENGER.
HA HA HA…
COYG
U BEAUTY…IN ARSENE WE TRUST’
Typical AKB reaction. When Arsenal took the lead at home against a lousy team, someone praises Wenger, despite the hiding last week and all the shite when Arsenal faces a really good team.
You talked too early, LOL! What now? ‘A good point against the mighty Swansea’, I assume?
A few seconds more and Swansea would have grabbed the three points.
Yassin
You answered your own question, honesty in a dishonest world, especially one which is so governed by money.
There is an important and wise words said by our friend “Al” all the time, don
DONT FEED THE TROLL.
please nobody respond to them and skip.
Cheer up!
The 2:2 at the death was very, very unfortunate.
Without our best midfield players, we managed to get another point more than in the last season. +3 and counting.
Anyway, I wonder what’s going on with the defence.
.. and who will play against MC. Any point gained in the next match will be huge boost.
Dan
I could say so, after the substitution it was all about swans threading us at the commentary of skysport
@Yassin you are right ,its the same question which goes in my mind but the shit heads want to turn up everything against us but as always we will prevail.
Persian Gunner,
It’s not the first time it happened, and that puts things a bit into perspective. I didn’t see the whole second half, so I can’t comment, I’ll be back home in a few hours and look at NBC’s recorded Internet stream. I can recognize the pattern though. For now, stay calm and ignore the trolls.
@Persian
We needed to slow the game down, instead we bombed forward. We allowed too much room in our area.
Guys lets keep the fire burning don’t give up and have a lovely night
@All
We asked for reaction, we got one. Let’s all ask for some luck.
Notice – Oliver doing all he can for Manures and still they’re shit.
Come on people, dont give up already, its harsh I know, but come on we are on the FA semi final and 6pts of the leaders. We have hard games coming, but who said we must lose them, cause if the players think like that, we lost already.
Its a hard road to travel, we are not favorite, but come on, we are the Arsenal, we like to do it the hard way.
Top of the league for so long and now fighting for 4th. Shocking collapse. Getting points against city will be a miracle and Everton will give everything. Just wondering have we got enough fight in our stomach to reach the finish line or have the boys and manager given up.
Yassin
Man! Wish you don’t hurt yourself bad!
Honestly I doubt us to react against Man city and unfortunately Everton is on a real good form, that’s the part which is really painful now!
Wish Ramsey to be back soon
BTW, a special mention for the Emirates fans, other than the half time booing, which I cant blame them for…. They were brilliant, man am proud of our crowd this season. They were amazing, and against City they will install the whole fear into their players that Nasri will just run away, and Hart will score three own goals. Ok a 1-0 is ok to me.
Yassin
I think we’ll be ok on saturday. Today the 2nd half the players did the business, this was a boost and a realisation.
“That was frustrating, to give ur all and not get 3pts.”
Yeah they really did LOL
These AKBs are funny
No excuses. Another poor performance and the result was just about deserved. Disappointed that the ‘reaction’ to the Chelsea humiliation was so lame. The title is now gone and 4th place is a real fight again. The FA Cup is our hope of salvation, but in truth I am not confident that we will beat Wigan – not on that showing.
@Persian Gunner,
Thanks man, didnt hurt myself that bad.
I know its hard run, but again I think our players like it when they are under dogs and off the pressure. Plus we can send Walter to the two matches and get two 4-1s 😀
@Dan,
yes man we will be Ok, we kust need to get behind them, and please luck, at least Ramsey?
Man really this team has done huge job the whole season, with all this injuries, all we need is to finish in good shape, we got the fourth place to lose, and we need to get the FA, and then everything is a Bonus. We have the summer, and hope Wenger resigns and we get next season in a better team and stronger.
Unbelievable. I really expected to win this against a poor Swansea and after that shocking Chelsea defeat.
This is going to be tough. I can’t see anything but a loss to City and then we go to Everton who are really on the up. Fifth is becoming a likely outcome. How the hell did this happen?
Predictable. Here we have a self declared anti Wenger parasite coming onto a pro Wenger site and pretending to be a concerned fan.
Keep the faith!
Yes Rupert it was unbelievable.
Unbelievable bad luck to concede late on as a result of an own goal from a ricochet that could have gone anywhere. The team tried their hearts out and deserved to win.
Unlike you I think we can win against Man City and will be cheering the boys on accordingly to help them achieve that victory.
Yes it is going to be tough, but we, the supporters can help make it less tough by being positive, getting behind the team and SUPPORTING rather than moaning and groaning every time we get a setback.
When are you going to start being a supporter Rupert, and all you other moaning minnies.
Mick, to question your beloved dictator doesn’t make him any less of a supporter… This man has single handedly made sure we are now out of the title race. Thanks and good night from the stubborn one.
bjtgooner, crawl back under your mother’s armpit little bug.
That performance was below par. The midfield was shambolic at times. Arteta had a few chances to go forward near their area and passes the ball sideways. None of the midfielders took any responsibility to push forward and they barely got stuck in. Gibbs was the one shining light.
Without Wiltshire, Ramsey and Ozil there’s no drive or guile.
If City are as sharp as they were against Utd. tonight we’ll take another hammering.
Kos, yes of course the own goal was Wenger’s fault.
Rupert – do the world a favour – lift your tail & stick you head up your ass & break wind.
As I said on Saturday we we have wnrger so even if we are in a place where we can’t lose, Wenger will find a way to balls it up. Pathetic team led by a joker
Oh dear.No 4th place trophy next season.Everton 6 points behind,a game in hand and a home game against Chokers FC.What will be the excuse for Wengers failure if we don’t get 4th ?After all Everton are as poor as a church mouse with a new manager and not a 42 mill overrated German in sight.I am sure Tony will find a way to insinuate they cheat.Face it all you on here are terrified of change,prefer to keep a failing manager than take a chance with a new one.And to think you have the nerve to take the piss out of Moyes.WENGER HAS LOST THE DRESSING ROOM.The players aren’t listening any more,they have heard everything he has to say.To think he could lose every game for the rest of the season and still not be sacked.What a joke.
I wonder Linz if you were one of those people saying that we should spend he money and that Wenger never would spend. We then bought Özil.
I wonder that from the first time he had a poor game you were ready to brand him as waste of money and a flop.
Did you notice by the way that since “flop” Özil got injured that we struggled a lot? Maybe the absence of Özil has something to do with the results not going as planned?
Maybe the losing of Ramsey first wasn’t helpful. And then losing Theo didn’t help us either. And then on top of that losing Jack with a broken foot didn’t help either. And then on top losing Özil as the final nail in the coffin.
That is 4 players that would have started almost all the matches if fit. But let us ignore that fact of course. The subs have done what they can but they aren’t as good as the 4 mentioned above. Note that no other team had to face the same amount of injuries as we did.
And in the injury series you can see how much of those injuries is down to being kicked all over the place. without much protection or non at all.
To put it in capitals like you did: WENGER HAS LOST HIS MOST IMPORTANT PLAYERS. That is what he has lost.
Chokers Utd Linz, think you will be well aware you have applied that term to the wrong team in North London
Anyone trying to disguise this debacle is utterly bonkers. I am sorry but I don’t see this team making the top four. How has Rogers managed to turn a Liverpool side who were eight last season into title challenging team?
All these negative fools.Surely if left alone Arsene can win the cup & then build for next season.
Such a dissapointment tonight. A win would have done so much for our confidence, however to think we have only taken 1 point from the stoke and Swansea games is nearly as worrying as the hammerings against Liverpool and Chelsea. We have gone from being in a title race to now fighting for 4th place in 4 days. The limitations of the squad have been highlighted, we just don’t have the players to sustain a title fight. I know some supporters will point to injuries and we have been extremely unlucky but it also happens other teams as well. We lost Pires in march 2002 in the run in to the season but we had a squad to deal with it. We also lost Adams in 1990/91 for a few months when he went away for a little holiday and we still won the league.
Just so frustrating to be so close this season and see it vanish again. If some more had been invested in the squad it could be a different story. Either the club are not really making funds available or Wenger is just too cautious with the money.
Sack Wenger an appoint Rupert. He is clearly an expert coach and tactician
At this rrate we wwon’t get fourth
There is a very real danger that this may be Arsene’s final season. He has the look of a man ready to throw his hand in. When I said this several weeks ago, many scoffed. Arsenal have flattered to deceive. I have never believed that they would still be genuine contenders in April. Again, when I said this, many scoffed. The major flaw lies in the personnel: they simply aren’t good enough to win a major trophy. Again many scoffed. This was perfectly obvious from the beginning of the season. Interestingly enough, this is exactly what Scholes said (for me the best English player of his generation.) He emphasised the lack of tough players, of leaders, like Viera, Adams, etc. We don’t have a single one, he says. He is dead right – but we also lack players of outright quality, too. Obviously, a lot of the blame lies with Wenger. But it is also obvious that he didn’t have the money to pay for the best players. And that he was forced to sell many of his best players. Sadly, I no longer see this as a squad that simply needs a few quality additions. It is too late now. If we are to win trophies, a new team must be built. And that will take time – and big money.
Wenger reckons we unlucky because swansea only had 2 shots on target. How many shots did we have on target? I can’t believe the dribble coming out of this mans mouth. Oh well we’ll probably scrape 4th he’ll sign his new contract and much of the same for next season. I feel I’ve been reliving this moment for the last 11 years. Groundhog Day!!!!!!
No John we should hire Kos as he has the vision.
Kos
I can recall at least 5 shots on target, there could have been more but without re watching the entire game can’t be sure. Two resulted in goals, another 2 by Ox and Cazorla both brought out very good saves from the keeper, another by Giroud which was diverted by a defender for a corner. Five shots on target is around average for a game I would guess. Several more shots were off target. Oh and it’s drivel, not dribble.
Bootoomee- another home draw after a humiliation- quel suprise…It just shows you don’t have to be a visionary to work out that this team has ZERO bottle, they are a reflection of the washed up pensioner in charge
Morning MacFluff, we missed you!
Well Kenneth,I was actually supporting the team last night- and will do so again on Saturday. And will be long after Arsene Wenger and every overpaid oaf at the club is gone too
Macca–I was eating my prawn sandwich all the way through the game and reading the Guardian,Im afraid I missed most of it, except to get up and boo at half time…The thing is I used to support Man Utd until last season, then I switched over when I moved to north London from Cheshire to become an art journalist.I thought I should give the local team a go.Ive even got a the new Arsenal kit!I must admit though its not much fun losing, at Man U we won lots of trophies!However I quite like Chelsea…so who knows next season!
Good for you kenneth. Everyone is entitled to like/ love/ admire/ support in the way they see fit
@John, thanks mate, I knew you’d see sense. For a start I’d never play Arteta and Flamini together against a team as weak as Swansea. We’re trying to win, we’re not playing Manu.